But as the 2014 season dawns, some of the best quarterbacks in the game are 35 and older. Peyton Manning (38) and Tom Brady (37) top the list, while Drew Brees (35) rounds out an impressive trio. Carson Palmer, who is expected to the starting quarterback for the Cardinals, will turn 35 in December. Josh McCown, expected to start in Tampa, also turned 35 this summer.

None of the over-35 guys have even hinted at retirement. Manning said this summer he wants to fulfill his current Denver deal, which would mean he would play until he’s 41. Brees said with a straight face he’s interested in playing until he’s 45. And Brady has talked about playing past the age of 40.

“When I suck, I’ll retire. I don’t plan on sucking for a long time,” Brady told WEEI with a laugh on Tuesday morning. “I’ve had a lot of people over the years tell me the things I couldn’t do, and I think that’s always been great motivation for me to go out there and accomplish things that I think I can do. Hopefully it’s to continue to play at a high level for a really long period of time.”

In fact, Brady’s old teammate Rodney Harrison believes Brady can play another 10-15 years with the recent rules changes.

“Statues that are in the pocket like Brady and [Peyton] Manning and Joe Flacco, why wouldn’t they play — if they have a good offensive line to protect them, why wouldn’t they play another 10 years?” Harrison asked during his weekly appearance on WEEI Tuesday. “Because once you grab a guy it’s a penalty. So I don’t see why they can’t be productive for another 8-10 years, especially the way Tom takes care of his body.”

You could make an argument that this the best grouping of veteran quarterbacks in the recent history of the game. You have three Hall of Famers, with Manning and Brady at the helm of the two AFC teams that are favorites to reach the conference title game. Manning arguably put together the greatest season of any plus-35 quarterback of all time in 2013 when he completed 68 percent of his passes and threw for 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns for the Broncos. Meanwhile, Brees has a Super Bowl ring and the Saints are perennial playoff contenders. That’s considerable star power.

In truth, this year’s collection is good, but not as good as the plus-35 group that dominated in the latter stages of the 20th century. In 1997, Elway (37), Boomer Esiason (36) and Steve Young (36) topped the plus-35 QB club, with Elway winning the first of back-to-back Super Bowl titles with Denver. The following year, there were eight quarterbacks age 35 or older, a group that included Dave Krieg (the only one of the group who didn’t start), Wade Wilson, Elway, Young, Bubby Brister (who went 4-0 with Denver in relief of Elway), Doug Flutie, Randall Cunningham and Vinny Testaverde.

Those plus-35 QBs from 1998 were every bit as successful as their younger brethren. While it wasn’t all on account of them, their combined winning percentage as starters in the regular season was 58-13 (82 percent). Elway won a Super Bowl, while Cunningham was at the controls of one of the most successful offenses of all time -- with Randy Moss and Cris Carter as his primary wideouts, Minnesota fell just short of a Super Bowl berth. Meanwhile, Testaverde got the Jets to the AFC title game, while Young and Flutie also guided their teams to the postseason.

The only year in between that might stack up is 2007. That season, five plus-35 quarterbacks played significant snaps, including Favre (38), Jeff Garcia (37) and Kurt Warner (36), all of whom finished in the top 10 in quarterback rating. (Favre got the Packers to within one bad pass of the Super Bowl.) In addition, 35-year-old Jon Kitna went 7-9 as the starter for the Lions. And it was the last season in the league for the 44-year-old Testaverde, who remarkably started six games that year for the Panthers and led them to a 2-4 mark. Along the way, he completed 55 percent of his passes (94-for-172) for 952 yards with five touchdowns and six interceptions.

If the current group of plus-35 quarterbacks wants to surpass the Elway/Young/Esiason/Cunningham group of the late-’90s, one of these signal-callers needs at least one more ring. Elway was able to cement his legacy with back-to-back titles after the age of 35, and disproving the current theory that the winner’s postgame podium at the Super Bowl is no country for old men would go a long way toward cementing the Brady/Manning/Brees group as the best collection of plus-35 quarterbacks the game has ever seen.

Dickerson and Price discuss the RB position and who will get a majority of the workload. They also talk about missing Revis and the CB position. The boys also get into more Deflategate discussions with callers.

Dickerson and Price are live from Fenway today and kick off NFL Sunday discussing some of the events at Pats training camp this week. Then they get into the court battle between Brady and Goodell and where we go from here? The guys give their predictions on just how many games Brady will in fact sit out. They get into the Chris Mortenson situation after he backed out of the D&C interview. Finally, Trags (Mike Petraglia) of WEEI.com joins the boys live from training camp.

How long will this rebuild take? How much money will it take to keep Bae Crowder? Are Draft Picks even worth anything? With the Danny Ainge not landing any big names in the draft, and unable to lure any big names in free agency, Sam and Ben discussed if the Celtics are doomed moving forward.

Joe and Dave are joined by Pedro who was at the game and had his number 45 retired by the Red Sox in a very touching pregame ceremony. Pedro talks about going into the Hall of Fame, his time in Boston and love for the game of baseball.

The awesomely knowledgeable Fluto Shinzawa calls DJ, Naoko and Pete to talk about his thoughts on the future of the B's. He discusses his column from earlier this week on Cam Neely wanting to give Claude the ax earlier in the season but not getting the ok. Fluto shares his thoughts on Chiarelli's firing, the future for Claude and where the Bruins should go from here. He also gives his opinion on potential moves the team can make, who would fit in here, his thoughts on the NHL playoffs so far and more.

In the final hour of the "midseason finale" as DJ likes to call it, the crew discuss more about the future of the Bruins franchise, the possible power struggle in the front office and who should be the head coach going forward. They talk to intelligent and talented Fluto Shinzawa about all of these thing and more in an excellent interview, and finally, DJ says THANK YOU!

Intern extraordinaire Lucy joins Jerry once again to discuss the most vexing questions in the history of mankind: can men and women coexist? What are the differences between how men and women think? And how mean can women really be?

If you play Fantasy Football then you know there are several “Elephants in the Room!” And nobody is talking about them. Are they afraid? We’re not! The Dallas Running game, Leveon Bell, Demarco Murray & Ryan Matthews in the Philly backfield, the Saints offense and so much more. Right here, WEEI’s own Jim Hackett and Pete Davidson cover all of the main “Elephants in the Room” to help you get the edge for your upcoming drafts. Enjoy!